Ilminster
Ilminster is a town and civil parish in the countryside of south west Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the town currently lies simply east of the junction of the A303 (London to Exeter) and the A358 (Taunton to Chard as well as Axminster). The church consists of the community of Sea. Ilminster is stated in records dating from 725 as well as in a Charter provided to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles (16 km) to the north) by King Ethelred in 995. Ilminster is also pointed out in the Domesday Book (1086) as Ileminstre indicating 'The church on the River Isle' from the Old English ysle and mynster. By this duration Ilminster was a flourishing neighborhood and was provided the right to hold an once a week market, which it still does. Ilminster belonged to the hundred of Abdick as well as Bulstone. In 1645 throughout the English Civil War Ilminster was the scene of an altercation between legislative soldiers under Edward Massie as well as Royalist pressures under Lord Goring that fought for control of the bridges before the Battle of Langport. The town includes the buildings of a sixteenth-century grade school, the Ilminster Meeting House, which acts as the community's art gallery as well as auditorium. There is likewise a Gospel Hall.
